


Expectations

by appending_fic



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett, Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Character Death, Death meets everybody, Gen, Sad, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 18:23:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appending_fic/pseuds/appending_fic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after the last Laurence passes, Temeraire has a new visitor...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Expectations

LUNG TIEN XIANG?

At the sound of the vaguely uncertain voice, the massive bulk of grey-black flesh shifted as Temeraire lifted his head inquisitively.

"I'm afraid I haven't gone by that name for...quite a while," the dragon said politely. "You may call me Temeraire."

I SEE. BUT YOUR GIVEN NAME IS LUNG TIEN XIANG? the voice asked slowly. ONLY IT'S OF, AHEM, VITAL IMPORTANCE THAT I AM CERTAIN ON THIS MATTER.

Temeraire frowned at the darkness of the small corner of the covert that was his alone, wondering who would be looking for him. After the last Laurence had passed, with no others willing to pilot him, it had been discussed and considered best to leave Temeraire to his reading.

"I am he, but I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," Temeraire said. "Only you seem to know quite a lot about me, and I know nothing about you."

PEOPLE OFTEN DISCOVER, UPON MEETING ME, THAT THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT ME THAN THEY ORIGINALLY BELIEVED, the voice continued. Something about the voice was making Temeraire nervous, something about how Temeraire couldn't actually remember hearing his guest's voice.

"Well, I would feel more comfortable if I could see you," Temeraire announced, feeling his ruff rise in agitation, as if he were a novice facing his first sortie against the French.

AH. I WILL DO MY BEST... Temeraire started in shock when he noticed a figure standing at the edge of the clearing, a man dressed in dark, loose clothing and leaning on a tall staff. He looked like a monk, until he shifted forward and Temeraire saw that the robe covering his guest moved as if there was no flesh or muscles underneath.

A worrisome thought crossed Temeraire's mind, but the urgency of it seemed distant, leaving only the sharp edge of curiosity that was the only joy left in Temeraire's life.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The figure shifted again, and Temeraire was now certain that his guest was nothing more than bones wrapped in a cloak. I GENERALLY FIND THAT THERE IS LITTLE NEED TO EXPLAIN MYSELF WHEN I'VE REACHED THIS POINT IN AN ENGAGEMENT.

"Well, I have no idea what you want from me, so you'll have to explain it," Temeraire replied peevishly, folding one forearm over the other in an attempt to show off his claws. It usually cut down humans who thought they could intimidate Temeraire down to size. The intruder (Temeraire wasn't going to think of him as a guest if the man refused to explain himself, Will's attempts at drilling something of etiquette into Temeraire's head nonwithstanding) didn't seem impressed.

In fact, as he (it?) stepped closer to Temeraire, he brandished the stick subtly, and Temeraire caught sight of a flash of light dancing across the end of the intruder's staff. That scythe was easily as impressive as Temeraire's claws, and, Temeraire thought with a strange certainty, much sharper.

I'M GIVEN TO UNDERSTAND THAT DRAGONS DO NOT, AS A RULE, DEVOTE MUCH THOUGHT TO WHAT OCCURS AFTER THEY, TO PUT IT DELICATELY, ARE NO LONGER DRAGONS, the intruder said, hesitantly. OF COURSE, WE HAVE MECHANISMS IN PLACE, AND IT USUALLY MOVES ALONG VERY SMOOTHLY, BUT YOU HAVE BECOME A SORT OF SPANNER IN THE WORKS.

Temeraire frowned at the intruder for several moments before the man's words made any sense, and then he growled. "Not a dragon -- you'll find it will go very badly for you if you're here to kill me," he said warningly.

The intruder cocked his head at Temeraire, as if working something out. Finally, it reached up and pushed back the hood of its robe, revealing a grinning skull differentiated from other skulls only by the depthless blue eyes that glittered within its sockets. I THINK WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A BASIC MISUNDERSTANDING OF MY FUNCTION. YOU WOULD DO WELL TO CONSIDER ME A...CUSTODIAN. IT IS MY JOB TO PICK UP THE MESS, RATHER THAN TO MAKE IT.

"I-" Temeraire let his protest die when he realized exactly what the intruder meant. "I...that's -- I'm dead?"

OF COURSE. SURELY SOMEONE GAVE YOU AN IDEA...NO? The skeleton sighed. IN ANY CASE, THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE IS SOME...UNCERTAINTY ABOUT YOUR FINAL DESTINATION.

Having discussed something like this many times when Will had still been alive, Temeraire felt like his blood should have run cold. Except, of course, he didn't have it any longer. He glanced back to see his slumped form on the ground behind him, still partially overlapping his...ghost?

"I'm not -- I didn't think Will meant it when he said I was a heretic! Or an apostate" Temeraire protested. "I always tried to do the right thing, even when it was difficult or when Will thought the right think was something else entirely."

WHAT? the skeleton asked. When Temeraire began clawing absent-mindedly at the ground, it peered intently at him. OH. NO. I'M NOT GENERALLY IN CHARGE OF THAT DETERMINATION; THAT IS A DECISION BEST MADE BETWEEN A DECEASED PERSON AND THEIR DEITY OF CHOICE.

"Oh. But..." Real worry began to percolate...well, in the memory of Temeraire's stomach. "I don't have one. I tried to think well of Will's god, but it never made much sense to me. Is that the problem?"

NOT QUITE. IT SIMPLY HAS TO DO WITH EXPECTATION, the skeleton replied. PEOPLE -- THAT IS, HUMANS AND DRAGONS -- GENERALLY HAVE SOME EXPECTATION AS TO WHAT HAPPENS AFTER. I DO MY BEST TO HELP THEM MANAGE THEIR EXPECTATIONS PROPERLY, AND THEN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT CLIENT. YOU, AS IT STANDS, ARE DISTINCTLY LACKING IN THAT DEPARTMENT. AND THAT ABSENCE IS THE CAUSE OF OUR PRESENT DELAY.

Temeraire again took several moments trying to work out the skeleton's words; when he did, the vague anxiety that had been gnawing at him had begun to fade in anticipation of what it might all mean. "Do you mean that I can end up wherever I like?"

I...YOU END UP WITH WHAT YOU EXPECT, the skeleton corrected. NOW IS GENERALLY NOT THE TIME TO RADICALLY ALTER ONE'S WORLDVIEW.

"Oh," Temeraire replied quietly. For a moment he'd hoped...but that was ridiculous. Just because he'd always assumed he and Will would be together forever didn't mean...

"You said you get what you expect," Temeraire said hesitantly. "Does that include...anything?"

I REALLY PREFER NOT TO DISCUSS THE EXACT MECHANISM WITH CLIENTS, the skeleton replied, sounding somewhat stiff and uncomfortable.

"Please," Temeraire begged. "It's important."

The skeleton was silent for several minutes; they felt like an eternity, and very well might have been.

...I HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR GUIDING PEOPLE TO A NUMBER OF VERY UNUSUAL PLACES, the skeleton finally replied.

"I...see," Temeraire said shakily, the hope that he shouldn't be able to feel fluttering in the memory of his breast. "Then I think I know what I want to happen. I always...when I was younger, I imagined Will and I would always be together." Discussing this idle dream made Temeraire feel young, and small, again, and he curled himself up as tightly as possible, just in case the skeleton took this opportunity to crush his hopes. "Of course, eventually I learned that this was impossible, but..."

The skelton's eyes seemed to glow brighter for a moment, and it nodded. NOW THAT IS AN EXPECTATION I CAN WORK WITH. YOU SHOULD BE GLAD TO KNOW, TEMERAIRE, THAT THE HARD PART IS OVER. ALL THAT IS LEFT ARE THE DETAILS. The skeleton turned, as if to leave Temeraire, but before it did, it stopped, and turned. HE...WILL WAS ANXIOUS FOR YOU WHEN WE LAST MET. I AM SURE HE IS EAGER TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

That, more than anything, made the waiting for this moment, and the uncertainty that anything would ever come of it, worth it.

When at last Temeraire's spirit had taken its leave, the skeleton stared at the scene for a moment more, and nodded.

THAT WENT BETTER THAN I EXPECTED, it announced to no one in particular. There was a resonant SQUEAK from its waist, and a skeletal rat in a robe scrambled up to the skeleton's shoulder from one of its pockets. IT IS LIKELY TO BE THE EASIER CASE, the skeleton argued. AFTER ALL, I DO NOT IMAGINE ISKIERKA WILL GO AS EASILY.

**Author's Note:**

> It's not meant to be sad, really. If you go far enough along, every story ends in death. It's a little project of mine to explore the possibilities of this with everyone, because Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett have done a lot of work building characters that make the exploration of this moment very human.


End file.
